


Knock-out Punch

by antigrav_vector



Series: Bingo - Western AU [13]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 1872, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Secret Wars Battleworlds
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Western, Cap_Ironman Bingo, Crossover, M/M, Multiverse, Stony Bingo, Stony Bingo 2016, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 15:42:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8452138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antigrav_vector/pseuds/antigrav_vector
Summary: Fisk's men make another attempt, but are foiled by Iron Man.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for the "alter ego" prompt on my bingo card. Betaed by the lovely [navaan](http://archiveofourown.org/users/navaan). <3

The crack of a twig snapping was loud in the silence of the night. It was sometime long after midnight and before dawn, and the sky was still studded with countless stars. The sheriff had woken him for his turn on watch hours ago, and Tony had been fighting not to let the quiet lull him back to sleep. He'd been trying to redesign his boot jets to occupy a third less space and keep the output levels constant, just for kicks. They didn't need the overhaul, but he had to keep himself awake somehow, and the past two nights' lack of sleep had caught up with him hard, now that they seemed to be more or less in the clear.

But it seemed they weren't.

Doing his best to be silent about it, Tony picked up his suitcase suit. It wasn't silent when it deployed, but it wasn't loud, either, and he wanted to be prepared. If it wasn't just his imagination playing tricks on him, he needed to be ready to fight. That, in this corner of the multiverse, meant being as bulletproof as possible.

His alter ego needed to make another appearance.

Climbing carefully down off the rock the Sheriff had picked out for his lookout point and given over when he'd pointed out the best vantage point, Tony made sure to muffle the impact of his feet with the ground as much as he could.

There were no sounds or other indications that he'd been heard.

That didn't mean he hadn't been, but Tony chose to assume he was still in the clear. Turning to face the rock he'd been perched on to minimize the risk that the light of the arc reactor would be seen, Tony activated his armour with a smirk. Even if he didn't need to fight, having it on was always reassuring in a way nothing else could match, of late.

The sure knowledge that it worked no matter what universe he was in was almost as much of a rush as the first test of his suit had been. 

As the suit closed around him, the HUD booting up and scanning the environment around him, Tony was momentarily thrown again by the lack of his AI's familiar voice greeting him, but that quickly became a secondary concern.

A shot rang out from his left, and above him. Tony laughed and returned fire with his right hand repulsor.

Three more shouts went up all around him. The men went down in quick succession, unprepared to deal with Iron Man, and then the sheriff was crouched behind the lookout rock, firing into the darkness. Steve didn't say a word, totally focused.

Apparently being under fire meant the man wasn't mad at him anymore. Tony wanted to roll his eyes. Just like his own Steve.

Sure there were more men than just the four they'd already scared off, Tony turned to the sheriff. "Stay here with the old man," he said. "I'll be back after I make sure they're gone."

Not waiting for a reply, he hit the boot jets hard, sending himself flying into the sky and glorying in being able to _fly_ for the first time in days.

Once he was at an altitude that let him get a bird’s eye view of the area around their hideyhole, Tony watched as the HUD obligingly highlighted a group of ten men off to his southwest. They were huddled together and one was pointing at him.

Three shots rang out, impacting on different armour panels and simply ricocheting.

"My turn," Tony told them and cut the boot jets to make a three-point landing just meters to the group's south. With startled shouts, they tried to scatter.

Tried.

Tony straightened out of his crouch and repulsored them all in quick succession, alternating his hands and twisting at the waist. The white-blue flashes lighting up the night like fireworks, and it took only seconds for him to hit all of his targets.

When all ten of them were out cold, Tony nodded to himself.

Knocking the bad guys unconscious was always satisfying in a very visceral way.

\------


End file.
